Cignetti Says BC Has Chance to ‘Master’ Offense in Year Two
Andy Backstrom
Staff Writer
In his first year at Boston College, Frank Cignetti Jr. revolutionized the Eagles’ offense. BC went from second-to-last to third in the ACC in passing offense from 2019 to 2020, averaging 284.2 yards per game through the air last year. Phil Jurkovec and Dennis Grosel combined to throw for 3,126 yards, the program’s most in a single season since Matt Ryan’s senior year in 2007.
The way the second-year Eagles offensive coordinator sees it, that’s just a glimpse of what his offense can do.
“Year one, you’re learning it,” Cignetti said. “Year two, you have a chance to master it.”
Tuesday, after BC’s second spring practice, Cignetti expressed to reporters how important continuity is, not only within a coaching staff but also among players. The former NFL offensive coordinator pointed out that the terminology, run and pass game systems, and protections are ingrained by this point, which makes it easier for him to get more sophisticated with scheme.
Cignetti emphasized that the experience of his players and staff from the 2020 season carried over to the spring. Last year, they had to find themselves: understand what they had in their personnel and establish an identity through a new system.
Now, they’re able to expand upon it with added wrinkles.
“We have a heavy installation that we’re able to draw from,” Cignetti said. “And that’s what makes it really nice now. These guys understand the concepts in all three phases, and they’re just getting more repetitions at it.”
The difference is night and day for Jurkovec, who, at this time last year, still hadn’t started a game since his senior year at Pine-Richland, or received an immediate-eligibility waiver, and had only 18 college passes to his name. Flashforward to this spring, and the 6-foot-5 redshirt junior has his confidence back. He’s coming off a 2020 campaign, in which he posted a 17:5 touchdown-to-interception ratio, tossed four 300-yard games, and recorded the fifth-highest single-season completion percentage (61.0%) of any BC signal caller since 2000.
“He knows what to do,” Cignetti said. “When Phil came in here last year, just like the rest of the guys, everything was new to him. The terminology, the actual scheme, the fundamentals and technique. So they were starting over as quarterbacks. Now that they have a year in the system, they understand what to do and how to do it.”
Cignetti says that all of his returning quarterbacks are thinking and going through their reads much quicker than they were last year. He explained that, as time wears on, they’ll have an even greater understanding of run and pass game checks as well as protection adjustments. It’s a six-player group he calls “outstanding.”
“First off, they’re unbelievable student-athletes,” Cignetti said. “They’re great guys. They have high character. They’re good leaders. They work hard on and off the field. They’ve taken the knowledge from the classroom to the practice field to the game field. They compete with each other. It is really neat to see how close they are and how well they work together.”
Perhaps the deepest position group on BC’s offense, however, is the line. The Eagles brought back all five guys in the trenches, including Zion Johnson and Ben Petrula, who both could have entered their names in the 2021 NFL Draft. Cignetti said that BC is “very fortunate” to have them back, and he noted that, for an offense to succeed, it all starts up front.
Last year, Cignetti implemented a zone blocking scheme. With that came an offensive line position shakeup and growing pains, particularly in the run game—what used to be BC’s bread and butter. After ranking eighth nationally in rushing offense in 2019, the Eagles (notably, without star running back AJ Dillon) plummeted to 118th in the country, averaging just a smidge more than 100 yards on the ground per game. It wasn’t all on the O-Line. BC’s backs lagged behind many of their ACC counterparts in elusive rating and breakaway percentage. Albeit still inconsistent, the Eagles’ rushing attack improved toward the end of the year. The team rounded out the season with a Pro Football Focus run blocking grade of 67.5, good for 52nd nationally.
Even without a reliable run game, the Eagles were still explosive offensively in 2020. Tight end Hunter Long was a big reason why. The Second-Team AP All-Pro was targeted more than any player at his position nationally and hauled in 57 passes for 685 yards. That’s a lot to replace, but Cignetti hasn’t altered his vision for the offense.
“We want to be multiple personnel groupings, multiple formations, run the same plays different ways,” he said. We’ll tell the tight end group, ‘Hey, we don’t expect the production to change.’ Does that mean the tight ends will catch as many balls? We can’t say that because the defense will ultimately determine where the ball goes. But this is a tight end friendly offense, and we have very high expectations for that group.”
Although the Eagles are losing Long to the NFL, they’re getting back wide receiver Kobay White. The graduate wideout led BC in receptions in 2019 and has amassed 96 catches and 1,409 receiving yards in his Eagles career. He suffered a season-ending ACL tear leading up to last year’s opener at Duke but is back for one final ride.
Cignetti said that he can’t wait for White to make his return and that he’s excited to get him acclimated with the offense again.
“As the play-caller, it's my responsibility to put these guys in a position to be successful,” Cignetti said. “[Kobay] will be one of those guys. He’ll be one of those added weapons. Throughout training camp, we'll find a good niche for him and hopefully you'll see in the fall a healthy Kobay make some big plays for us.”
Not including White, BC returns nine offensive starters from last year’s team. The expectations are high for a unit that put up 21 points in one half against Clemson and is led by a quarterback who churned out numbers Eagles fans hadn’t seen in more than half a decade.
Andy Backstrom
Staff Writer
In his first year at Boston College, Frank Cignetti Jr. revolutionized the Eagles’ offense. BC went from second-to-last to third in the ACC in passing offense from 2019 to 2020, averaging 284.2 yards per game through the air last year. Phil Jurkovec and Dennis Grosel combined to throw for 3,126 yards, the program’s most in a single season since Matt Ryan’s senior year in 2007.
The way the second-year Eagles offensive coordinator sees it, that’s just a glimpse of what his offense can do.
“Year one, you’re learning it,” Cignetti said. “Year two, you have a chance to master it.”
Tuesday, after BC’s second spring practice, Cignetti expressed to reporters how important continuity is, not only within a coaching staff but also among players. The former NFL offensive coordinator pointed out that the terminology, run and pass game systems, and protections are ingrained by this point, which makes it easier for him to get more sophisticated with scheme.
Cignetti emphasized that the experience of his players and staff from the 2020 season carried over to the spring. Last year, they had to find themselves: understand what they had in their personnel and establish an identity through a new system.
Now, they’re able to expand upon it with added wrinkles.
“We have a heavy installation that we’re able to draw from,” Cignetti said. “And that’s what makes it really nice now. These guys understand the concepts in all three phases, and they’re just getting more repetitions at it.”
The difference is night and day for Jurkovec, who, at this time last year, still hadn’t started a game since his senior year at Pine-Richland, or received an immediate-eligibility waiver, and had only 18 college passes to his name. Flashforward to this spring, and the 6-foot-5 redshirt junior has his confidence back. He’s coming off a 2020 campaign, in which he posted a 17:5 touchdown-to-interception ratio, tossed four 300-yard games, and recorded the fifth-highest single-season completion percentage (61.0%) of any BC signal caller since 2000.
“He knows what to do,” Cignetti said. “When Phil came in here last year, just like the rest of the guys, everything was new to him. The terminology, the actual scheme, the fundamentals and technique. So they were starting over as quarterbacks. Now that they have a year in the system, they understand what to do and how to do it.”
Cignetti says that all of his returning quarterbacks are thinking and going through their reads much quicker than they were last year. He explained that, as time wears on, they’ll have an even greater understanding of run and pass game checks as well as protection adjustments. It’s a six-player group he calls “outstanding.”
“First off, they’re unbelievable student-athletes,” Cignetti said. “They’re great guys. They have high character. They’re good leaders. They work hard on and off the field. They’ve taken the knowledge from the classroom to the practice field to the game field. They compete with each other. It is really neat to see how close they are and how well they work together.”
Perhaps the deepest position group on BC’s offense, however, is the line. The Eagles brought back all five guys in the trenches, including Zion Johnson and Ben Petrula, who both could have entered their names in the 2021 NFL Draft. Cignetti said that BC is “very fortunate” to have them back, and he noted that, for an offense to succeed, it all starts up front.
Last year, Cignetti implemented a zone blocking scheme. With that came an offensive line position shakeup and growing pains, particularly in the run game—what used to be BC’s bread and butter. After ranking eighth nationally in rushing offense in 2019, the Eagles (notably, without star running back AJ Dillon) plummeted to 118th in the country, averaging just a smidge more than 100 yards on the ground per game. It wasn’t all on the O-Line. BC’s backs lagged behind many of their ACC counterparts in elusive rating and breakaway percentage. Albeit still inconsistent, the Eagles’ rushing attack improved toward the end of the year. The team rounded out the season with a Pro Football Focus run blocking grade of 67.5, good for 52nd nationally.
Even without a reliable run game, the Eagles were still explosive offensively in 2020. Tight end Hunter Long was a big reason why. The Second-Team AP All-Pro was targeted more than any player at his position nationally and hauled in 57 passes for 685 yards. That’s a lot to replace, but Cignetti hasn’t altered his vision for the offense.
“We want to be multiple personnel groupings, multiple formations, run the same plays different ways,” he said. We’ll tell the tight end group, ‘Hey, we don’t expect the production to change.’ Does that mean the tight ends will catch as many balls? We can’t say that because the defense will ultimately determine where the ball goes. But this is a tight end friendly offense, and we have very high expectations for that group.”
Although the Eagles are losing Long to the NFL, they’re getting back wide receiver Kobay White. The graduate wideout led BC in receptions in 2019 and has amassed 96 catches and 1,409 receiving yards in his Eagles career. He suffered a season-ending ACL tear leading up to last year’s opener at Duke but is back for one final ride.
Cignetti said that he can’t wait for White to make his return and that he’s excited to get him acclimated with the offense again.
“As the play-caller, it's my responsibility to put these guys in a position to be successful,” Cignetti said. “[Kobay] will be one of those guys. He’ll be one of those added weapons. Throughout training camp, we'll find a good niche for him and hopefully you'll see in the fall a healthy Kobay make some big plays for us.”
Not including White, BC returns nine offensive starters from last year’s team. The expectations are high for a unit that put up 21 points in one half against Clemson and is led by a quarterback who churned out numbers Eagles fans hadn’t seen in more than half a decade.
